Power connector for a printed circuit

ABSTRACT

A power connector for a printed circuit, the connector comprising:
         an insulating socket ( 14 ) provided with a bearing face ( 15 ) bearing on the printed circuit, and with a housing ( 16 ) associated with an opening ( 17 ) disposed laterally;   a pin ( 18, 19 ) passing through the bearing face perpendicularly thereto and having a connection portion ( 22, 27 ) which extends projecting into the housing and presents two faces ( 23, 28 ) parallel to a plane perpendicular to the opening;   an insulating support ( 31 ) arranged to be inserted at least in part in the housing through the opening; and   at least one plug ( 34 ) secured to the insulating support and provided with two flexible tabs ( 35 ) for pressing against the faces of the connection portion of the pin.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a National Stage of Application PCT/FR02/00989,filed Mar. 21, 2002, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a power connector usable, inparticular, with a printed circuit card, e.g. for use in controllingelectrical actuators, and, in particular, electromagnetic actuators.

In the automotive field, an ever-increasing number of high-powerelectrical actuators are being used. At present, power is supplied tosuch actuators by power modules associated with a card having powerconductor tracks leading to the actuators. A problem associated withthat type of power supply is connecting said power tracks to the powersupply conductors of the actuators, where such connection must bereleasable so as to enable the power supply card to be replaced in theevent of failure. In addition, very tight constraints on size lead to arequirement for the power supply conductors to depart from the printedcircuit parallel therewith, and close thereto.

Numerous connector structures are presently in existence. Nevertheless,none of them constitutes a good match for satisfying the above-mentionedconstraints.

SUMMARY

One embodiment provides a power connector for a printed circuit. Theconnector comprises an insulating socket provided with a bearing facebearing on the printed circuit, and with a housing associated with anopening disposed laterally, at least one pin passing through the bearingface perpendicularly thereto and having a connection portion whichextends projecting into the housing and presents two faces parallel to aplane perpendicular to the opening, an insulating support arranged to beinserted at least in part in the housing through the opening, and atleast one plug secured to the insulating support and provided with twoflexible tabs for pressing against the faces of the connection portionof the pin.

The structure of the connector is thus relatively compact while allowingrelatively high-power electric current to be conveyed, and with thesupport being easy to insert into the socket parallel to the bearingsurface. This connection therefore does not require conductors to becurved in order to cause them to depart parallel to the printed circuit.This contributes to minimizing the volume occupied for connectionpurposes.

Preferably, the pin comprises a tab which is cut out from a conductiveplate forming the printed circuit, and it is folded so as to extendperpendicularly to the plate.

The pin is then made in a manner that is particularly simple, integrallywith the conductive plate forming the printed circuit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear on readingthe following description of a particular, non-limiting embodiment ofthe invention.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway fragmentary perspective view of a printedcircuit card associated with a connector constituting a particularembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section view through the card and the connector;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded view of the connector;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cutaway plan view of the connector;

FIG. 5 a and 5 b are section views of the card showing the circuitsconnected to one another; and

FIG. 6 is a view analogous to FIG. 2 showing a variant embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a power system according to one embodiment.

MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is described herein with reference to a printed circuitcard for receiving a power module 610 (FIG. 7) of conventional type andassociated with a power connector for supplying power to an electricalactuator 612 (FIG. 7) which is connected to the power module 612 via theconnector.

With Reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 a, the card 1 comprises an insulatingplate 2 having two opposite faces 3 and 4 carrying a control circuit 5and two power circuits 6 and 7.

The control circuit 5 is implemented in the form of conductor tracksprinted on the face 3 of the insulating plate 2. The control circuit 5is connected to the power module to transmit low power control signalscoming from and going to the power module, and for connecting the powercircuits 6 and 7 to the power module via short segments capable ofconveying higher-power signals without being subjected to heating whichmight damage them.

The power circuits 6 and 7 are of the lead frame type comprising,respectively, a conductive plate 8 fixed to the face 4 of the insulatingplate 2, and a conductive plate 9 fixed to the conductive plate 8. Theconductive plates 8 and 9 are made of copper having thicknessessufficient to conduct power, and which include conductor tracks. Theconductive plates 8 and 9 also include holes 40, 41 for passingconnection pins of the power module and any other components that mightbe mounted on the card (e.g. coils 12, of FIG. 2). The holes 40, 41 havean opening size greater than the size of the connection pins so that theconnection pins do not come into contact with the plates 8 and 9.

Each of the conductive plates 8, 9 is cased in an insulating layer 10,11 (FIG. 2). The insulating layers 10 and 11 are formed in this case byflexible sheets of insulating material having an adhesive face enablingthe sheets to be held on the conducive plates 8 and 9. By means of theinsulating layers 10 and 11 interposed between the conductive plates 8and 9, the power circuits 6 and 7 can be placed one on the other,thereby limiting the volume they occupy. The insulating layers 10 and 11have openings in register with the holes 40 and 41.

Tracks of the conductive plate 8 have end portions 38 extendingsubstantially perpendicularly to the conductive plate 8 projecting fromthe insulating layer 10. In the same manner, tracks of the conductiveplate 9 comprising end portions 39 extend substantially perpendicularlyto the conductive plate 9 projecting from the insulating layer 11. Itwill be observed that the power circuits can thus form subassembliesready for mounting on the printed circuits.

The end portions 38 are received in holes 42 formed in the insulatingplate 2. Each of the end portions 38 has a free end fixed to andprojecting from the control circuit 5. In analogous manner, the endportions 39 are received in holes 43 formed in the power circuit 6 andin the corresponding holes 42 in the insulating plate 2, and each has afree end fixed to and projecting from the control circuit 5. The freeends of the end portions 38 and 39 are fixed to the control circuit 5 bysoldering.

As mentioned above, the segments of the control circuit 5 to which theend portions 38 and 39 are fixed are very short in length so as to makeit possible for them to conduct relatively high currents (about 20 amps)without being subjected to excessive heating which might damage them.

The end portions 38 and 39 serve firstly to connect the conductiveplates 8 and 9 to the control circuit 5 in order to convey power signalsbetween the power module and the actuator, and secondly to fasten thepower circuits 6 and 7 mechanically to the insulating plate 2.

In order to improve this fastening, additional end portions 38′, 39′ areprovided which are soldered to segments of the control circuit that arenot connected to the power module and that serve only for fastening thepower circuit in question.

It will be observed, in particular in FIG. 5 b, that the flexibility ofthe insulating layers 10 and 11 enables them to match the shape of thebent region of an end portion 38, said bent region projecting from theplate 8 into an opening of the conductive plate 9. This makes itpossible to further limit the overall size of the superposed powercircuits.

The power circuits 6 and 7 of the card 1 are connected to the electricalactuator with which they are to co-operate via a connector 13.

The connector 13 comprises a socket 14 which is made of insulatingmaterial and which comprises both a bearing face 15 bearing on the powercircuit 7, and a housing 16. The housing is associated with opening 17that opens laterally.

Pins 18 and 19 pass through the bearing face 15 perpendicularly theretoand extend into holes 20 in the socket 14.

The pins 18 extend in openings of the power circuit 7 and each has oneend 21 connected to the conductive plate 8 and an opposite end forming aconnection portion 22 which projects into the housing 16. The end 21 isextended away from the connection portion 22 by one of the additionalend portions 38′ that are soldered to segments of the control circuit 5that are not connected to the power module. The connection portion 22has two faces 23 parallel to a plane perpendicular to the opening 17(the plane of the sheet in FIG. 2) and a chamfered edge 24 facingtowards the opening 17. The pins 18 possess anchoring barbs 25 engagedin the insulating socket 14.

The pins 19 are disposed beyond the pins 18, each having one end 26connected to the conductive plate 9 and an opposite end forming aconnection portion 27 which projects into the housing 16. The end 26 isextended away from the connection portion 27 by one of the additionalend portions 39′ received in the holes 42 and soldered to segments ofthe control circuit 5 that are not connected to the power module. Theconnection portion 27 has two faces 28 parallel to a plane perpendicularto the opening 17 (the plane of the sheet in FIG. 2) and a chamferededge 29 facing towards the opening 17. The pins 19 possess anchoringbarbs 30 engaged in the insulating socket 14.

In this case, the pins 18 and 19 are formed by tabs cut out in thecorresponding conductive plate 8 or 9 and folded to extendperpendicularly thereto through the corresponding insulating layer 10 or11.

The pins 18 and 19 are disposed in two rows that are offset from eachother. The pins 19 are adjacent to the opening 17 and are of a height inthe housing 16 which is less than the height of the pins 18. Thisarrangement makes it possible to limit the volume occupied by theconnector 13.

The socket 14 also serves as a support on which the coils 12 are mountedwith their connection pins extending in holes formed in registertherewith in the socket 14, in the power circuits 6 and 7, and in theinsulating plate 2; the connection pins of the coils 12 having free endsprojecting beyond the control circuit 5 and soldered thereto.

The connector also comprises a support 31 which is made of an insulatingmaterial and is arranged to be inserted at least in part in the housing16 via the opening 17.

The support 31 has housings 32 each presenting a respective longitudinalslot 33 for receiving a pin 18 or 19, and each receiving a plug 34 (FIG.4) fixed in a housing 32. Each plug 34 possesses one end connected to aconductor 44 (FIGS. 1 and 4) for connection to the electrical actuator(only two conductors are shown in FIG. 1) and an opposite end carryingtwo flexible tabs 35 facing the slot 33, which tabs 35 are elasticallydeformable between a first state in which the two flexible tabs 35present respective surfaces 36 pressed against each other, and a secondstate in which the surfaces 36 are spaced apart from each other (seeFIG. 4 in particular). The flexible tabs 35 have diverging free ends 37.

The plugs 34 that connect to the pins 18 project beyond and are locatedabove the plugs 34 that connect to the pins 19 (see FIG. 1).

To make the card, the socket 14 is engaged by force onto the pins 18 and19. The barbs 25 and 30 then become anchored in the walls of the holes20 and hold the socket 14 pressed against the power circuit 7 via thebearing face 15. The control circuit 5 is made on the face 3 of thesupport plate 2 while the power circuits 6 and 7 and then the powermodule and the coils 12 are mounted on the insulating plate 2 via itsface 4. The free ends of the end portions 38, 39, 38′, 39′ and theconnection pins of the power module and of the coils 12 are thensoldered to the control circuit 5. Soldering is preferably performed inthis case by a flow soldering technique. It should be observed that allof the components of the card, including its power circuits 6 and 7 arefastened to the insulating plate 2 in this way and are connected to thecontrol circuit 5 in a manner that is particularly easy and may be donein a single operation.

Connection is established by engaging the support 31 in the housing 16through the opening 17 in a direction parallel to the bearing face 5 andto the insulating plate 2. Such insertion does not require theconductors 44 to be curved in order for the conductors 44 to extend fromthe card 1 in a direction that is parallel to the card 1, thus making itpossible to provide a connection of minimum size.

When the connection portions 22 and 27 of the pins 18 and 19 are engagedin the slots 33, the free ends 37 of the plugs 34 come into contact withthe chamfered edges 24 and 29 of the pins 18 and 19. The free ends 37are spaced apart by said chamfered edges 24 so as to bring the surfaces36 of the plugs 34 into contact with the faces 23 and 28 of the pins 18and 19. The elasticity of the material constituting each plug 34 servesto keep the surfaces 36 thereof in contact with the faces 23 or 28 ofthe corresponding pin 18 or 19. The depth of the slot 33 determines thedepth to which the pin 18, 19 can be inserted into the plug 34 in such amanner that, at maximum insertion, the surfaces 36 and the faces 23 and28 are in register.

It will be observed that the structure of the connector 13 is thusrelatively compact, which provides good transmission of electric currentof relatively high power and also makes it easy to insert the support 31into the socket 14 parallel to the bearing surface 15.

In a variant, as shown in FIG. 6, the insulating layers 10 and 11 aremade of a rigid insulating material molded around the plates 8 and 9,and the socket 14 is made out of the same material so as to constitute,together with the insulating layers 10 and 11, a single piece 45. Theconductive plates 8 and 9 are then used as inserts in the mold intowhich the material for constituting the part 45 is injected.

Naturally, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described andvariants can be applied thereto without going beyond the scope of theinvention as defined by the claims.

In particular, although the pins 18 and 19 are described as being cutout in the conductive plates 8 and 9, and as being folded so as toextend perpendicular to the plates, thereby simplifying the structure ofthe power circuits 6 and 7, the pins 18 and 19 could be separate piecesfitted to the power circuits 6 and 7.

In addition, the support plate 2 may be made of a material that conductsheat, such as aluminum (with an insulating layer then being interposedbetween the plate and the circuit), thereby contributing to cooling thecircuits.

The insulating layers 10, 11 need cover only one face of each conductiveplate 8, 9.

Furthermore, the card could have only one power circuit or could havemore than two power circuits.

The pins 18 and 19 could be arranged differently, for example theirpositions could be interchanged.

1. A power connector (13) for a power circuit comprising conductiveplates fixed on an insulating plate, the connector comprising: aninsulating socket (14) provided with a bearing face (15) bearing on thecircuit, and provided with a housing (16) having a laterally disposedopening (17); at least one pin (18, 19) passing through the bearing faceperpendicular to the bearing face, the pin having a connection portion(22, 27) which extends into the housing, the connection portioncomprising two faces (23, 28) which are parallel with a plane that isperpendicular to a plane of the laterally disposed opening, the pinbeing formed, at least in part, from a tab which is cut out from one ofthe conductive plates and is folded so as to extend perpendicularly tothe conductive plates; an insulating support (31) arranged to beinserted, at least in part, in the housing through the opening; at leastone plug (34) secured to the insulating support and provided with twoflexible tabs (35) for pressing against the faces of the connectionportion of the pin a plurality of pins (18, 19) positioned in theinsulating socket (14), the plurality of pins arranged in at least afirst row of pins and a second row of pins, the first row of pins andsecond row of pins being offset relative to each other, and a pluralityof plugs (34) disposed in the insulating support (31) and arranged tocorrespond to the first and second offset rows of pins; wherein theconductive plates comprise holes at rear sections.
 2. A power connectoraccording to claim 1, wherein the pin (18, 19) includes at least oneanchoring barb (25, 30) anchored in the insulating socket (14).
 3. Apower connector according to claim 1, wherein the first row of pins isadjacent to the opening (17), and of the first row of pins have a heightthat is shorter than the height of the second row of pins.
 4. A powerconnector for a power circuit comprising: conductive plates comprisingholes at rear sections, the conductive plate being coupled to a powermodule by a control circuit; a pin formed, at least in part, from a tabwhich is cut out from one of the conductive plates; a socket thatcontains the pin attached to the conductive plates, the socket having anopening configured to receive a support having conductors; a pluralityof pins positioned in the insulating socket, the plurality of pinsarranged in at least a first row of pins and a second row of pins, thefirst row of pins and second row of pins being offset relative to eachother, and a plurality of plugs disposed in the insulating support andarranged to correspond to the first and second offset rows of pinswherein the control circuit is connected to coil.
 5. The power connectorof claim 4, wherein the conductive plate is fixedly coupled to aninsulating plate.
 6. The power connector of claim 4, wherein segments ofthe control circuit that couple the conductive plate and power moduleare sufficiently short in length so as to make it possible for thesegments to conduct currents of about 20 amps without being subjected toheating which would cause damage to the segments.
 7. The power connectorof claim 4, wherein the socket comprises an insulating socket and thepin extends through the insulating socket.
 8. The power connector ofclaim 7, wherein the conductive plate does not extend through theinsulating socket.
 9. The power connector of claim 7, wherein the pinextends through a face of the socket and extends perpendicular to aplane of the face.
 10. The power connector of claim 7, wherein thesocket comprises an opening that is disposed laterally with respect tothe conductive plate.
 11. The power connector of claim 4, furthercomprising a support that is configured to be inserted in the socketsuch that conductors in the support can be electrically coupled to thepin.
 12. The power connector of claim 11, wherein the conductors of thesupport are configured to provide power to an electrical actuator. 13.The power connector of claim 12, wherein the electrical actuatorcomprises an electromagnetic actuator.
 14. The power connector of claim12, wherein the opening is disposed laterally with respect to theconductive plate.
 15. The power connector of claim 12, wherein theconductors of the support do not need to be curved in order for theconductors to extend from the conductive plate in a direction that isparallel to the conductive plate.
 16. The power connector of claim 4,wherein the pin is configured to provide power to an electricalactuator.